Historic Replicas

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Meriwether Lewis was born in 1774 in Virginia, and moved with his family to the Broad River Valley in Georgia in 1780.  He expressed and early interest in natural history and received daily instruction in herbal and frontier medicine from his mother.  He also learned diplomacy in Georgia through his dealings with the neighboring Cherokee, who he apparently treated with respect and spoke well of among his own people.  He was well read and trained in historical weapons.  He returned to Virginia at 13 for private tutoring, and befriended Thomas Jefferson during his time there. Jefferson appointed Lewis as his personal aide in 1801, after six years in the U.S. Army weapons. He lived in the White House for two years, but through it all, he maintained a passion for travel and exploration, and Jefferson found him ideally suited to the immense task ahead.